Lysergine (3), isolated from ergot fungi, is related biosynthetically
to the other ergot alkaloids. Tuoping Luo of Peking University assembled 3
by the radical cyclization/fragmentation of 1 to 2
(Org. Lett.2017, 19, 620.
).

Muscone (8), isolated from a glandular secretion of the musk deer, has
been widely used in perfumery. Ying-Yeung Yeung of the National University of
Singapore found that 6 efficiently brominated the tertiary allylic
alcohol prepared by the addition of 5 to the inexpensive cyclotridecanone
4. Radical cyclization/fragmentation of 7 so produced then
delivered 8
(Org. Lett.2017, 19, 1422.
).

Aplykurodinone-1 (11), isolated from the sea hare Siphonota
geographica, has six contiguous stereogenic centers. A key step in the
synthesis of 11 by Fayang G. Qiu of the Guangzhou Institute of
Biomedicine and Health was the simple thermal cyclization of the Claisen
rearrangement product 9 to the secondary alcohol 10
(Org. Lett.2017, 19, 4861.
).

Wortmannin (17), isolated from the fungus Fusarium oxysporum,
is a potent irreversible inhibitor of many phosphoinositide 3-kinases. En route
to 17, Professor Luo observed clean inversion in the establishment of the
cyclic quaternary center by the cyclization of the Sharpless-derived epoxide
15 to 16
(J. Am. Chem. Soc.2017, 139, 6815.
).

Aphanamal (21) was isolated from the medicinal plant Chromolaena
laevigata. James P. Morken of Boston College developed a synthetic route to
21 based on the diastereoselective cyclization of the geminal
bis(boronate) 18, followed by the trapping of the intermediate with the
Eschenmoser salt 19 to give 20
(Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.2017, 56, 11485.
).